Kwong Cheong Thye (KCT): The Go-To Place if You Want To Make Mooncakes!
viernes, 21 de agosto de 2015
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This is going to be a photo-heavy post, so be warned! :) Anyway, I would like to share my personal recommendation for a supplier that sells a really wide range of food supplies and cooking essentials, from belachan paste, sauces, oil, flour to yusheng ingredients. Of course, this is also THE place to go to if you are making mooncakes - Kwong Cheong Thye, or KCT in short! The service was really great and is a good alternative to Phoon Huat. As stated on its website, KCT's products are "used by over 90% of the top hotels and restaurants in Singapore", so be well-assured of the quality.
I headed down to their retail outlet at Aljunied on a weekday afternoon, and it was really convenient to locate after a quick 5-minute walk from the Aljunied train station. After tapping out from the station, turn left twice and walk on for 2 minutes where you will see the roadsign showing "Lorong 27". Turn right to that Lorong and you will see a cafe called The Ranch and this large shopfront below :)
When I entered, I was greeted by racks of sauces, food paste and flour. But what REALLY captured my attention when I walked further in was just rows and rows of mooncake pastes!
White lotus paste was something I expected, but what I did not expect to see was at least 5 different types of white lotus pastes! A few were from HK, some were locally made by KCT, and some were low-sugar ones. GOSH! Of course, there were also many other exotic flavours, such as white coffee, black sesame, custard, luo han guo, chocolate, durian lotus, osmanthus, green tea, kiwi fruit. Below are some photos that the service assistants kindly allowed me to take, so I will let the photos do the talking and awe you. I had to snap 5 photos to capture just the mooncake flavours, so I am sure you get the drift. Feel free to zoom into the photos to get a sense of the pricing, as of Year 2015. :)
Essential to baking traditional mooncakes are also ingredients like melon seeds and lye water which are available here too.
Of course, THE most crucial tool for baking mooncakes are the moulds. From the smallest 50g ones to the 185g ones, or the modern plastic plungers vs the traditional wooden ones - I am sure you can find what you want.
Finally, what are these intricate traditional delicacies without beautiful packaging? If you are intending to present your home-made mooncakes as gifts, get your hands on these plastic casings too. Wrap them up in paper boxes, and you are ready to gift them!
Now, after going through all these pictures, aren't you inspired to bake your own mooncakes too? I have a really simple recipe with step-by-step photos for the traditional baked Cantonese mooncake which I will definitely recommend (click here). First-timers have also commented how clear the steps are. While the temperature & settings are for the airfryer (yes, I bake mooncakes, cookies, cakes, and quiches in my airfryer!), the pictorial guide will be a great help on the preparations, before you put these lovelies into the oven.
PS: I don't get any commission from this review (I wish I did! haha), but I am happy to share my personal recommendations for you avid readers of The Hedgehog Knows. I was so impressed by the range of mooncake ingredients/ tools and the service that I knew I HAD to write this. Drop me a comment if you have been to KCT before, or would like to provide any suggestions or feedback! :)
Opening hours: Mon to Sat, 9.30am to 5.30pm
(Do make your purchases by 5.15pm if you are using NETS)
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